|
Country
|
Greece | 
Ireland |
|
Leader
|
President: Karolos Papoulias
|
President: Michael D Higgins
|
|
Population
|
10,767,827
| 4,722,028
|
|
Life Expectancy
|
80.050 years
| 80.320 years
|
|
Capital City
|
Athens
| Dublin
|
|
Largest city
|
| Athens (population: 729,137) | Dublin (population: 1,024,030) |
|
Human Development Index
|
0.947
| 0.96
|
| GDP per capita |
$26,600 US
| $40,100 US
|
|
Literacy Rate
|
96%
| 99%
|
|
Corruption Perception Index
|
4.7
| 7.7
|
|
Percentage of Women in Parliament
|
14.7%
| 15.5%
|
| Wealthiest Citizens |
Spiro Latsis & family ($3.8bn US)
| Pallonji Mistry ($2.5bn US)
|
| Unemployment Rate |
17.300%
| 14.400%
|
|
Death Penalty
|
Abolished
| Abolished
|
| |
|
Political System
|
parliamentary republic
| republic, parliamentary democracy
|
|
Independence date
|
1829 (from the Ottoman Empire)
| 6 December 1921 (from UK by treaty)
|
| Religions |
Greek Orthodox 98%, Muslim 1.3%, other 0.7%
| Roman Catholic 87.4%, Church of Ireland 2.9%, other Christian 1.9%, other 2.1%, unspecified 1.5%, none 4.2% (2006 census)
|
| Languages |
Greek 99% (official), other 1% (includes English and French)
| English (official) is the language generally used, Irish (Gaelic or Gaeilge) (official) spoken mainly in areas located along the western seaboard
|
| Exports |
food and beverages, manufactured goods, petroleum products, chemicals, textiles
| machinery and equipment, computers, chemicals, pharmaceuticals; live animals, animal products
|
| External Debt |
$583,300,000,000 $
| $2,352,000,000,000 US
|
| Exchange Rate |
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6734 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
| euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6689 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
|
| Military Budget as percentage of GDP |
4.300%
| 0.900%
|
| Beijing Olympics Medal Count |
4
| 3
|
| Location |
Southern Europe, bordering the Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea, between Albania and Turkey
| Western Europe, occupying five-sixths of the island of Ireland in the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Great Britain
|
| Area |
131,957 km sq
| 70,273 km sq
|
| Coastline |
13,676 km
| 1,448 km
|
| Climate |
temperate; mild, wet winters; hot, dry summers
| temperate maritime; modified by North Atlantic Current; mild winters, cool summers; consistently humid; overcast about half the time
|
|
|
|
